BOTANICAL AND ECOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS
SPECIES: Galium triflorum | Sweetscented Bedstraw 



GENERAL BOTANICAL CHARACTERISTICS : 
Sweetscented bedstraw is a native, perennial, upright herb with
scrambling stems 8 to 48 inches (20-120 cm) long.  It is simple to many
branched; branches are 0.8 to 3.5 inches (2-8.5 cm) long [20,33].
Leaves are arranged in whorls.  The fruit is a dry indehiscent
two-celled ovary covered with bristles [28].


RAUNKIAER LIFE FORM : 
   Hemicryptophyte


REGENERATION PROCESSES : 
Sexual:  Germination of seed is the primary method of reproduction of
sweetscented bedstraw [8].  Bristly seeds often become attached to the
coats of animals, which aids in dispersal [12].

Vegetative:  Sweetscented bedstraw sprouts from shallow creeping
rhizomes [20,28].

In central Idaho, Kramer and Johnson [29] found that 87 percent of
sweetscented bedstraw seed existed in the uppper 2 inches (5 cm) of the
soil, while 13 percent was found from 2 to 5 inches (5-10 cm) below the
soil surface.


SITE CHARACTERISTICS : 
Sweetscented bedstraw is restricted to moist sites [34].  It is common
in moist woodlands and along stream courses and moist ledges.  It is
rarely found in moist prairie communities [20].  In California it is
found in moist shaded sites below 8,000 feet (2,424 m) [33].

Soils:  Sweetscented bedstraw is found on a variety of soil types, but
most are derived almost solely from parent material [34].

Common plant associates of sweetscented bedstraw include heartleaf
arnica (Arnica cordifolia), starry Solomon-seal (Smilacina stellata),
pachistima (Pachistima myrsinites), mountain-ash (Sorbus spp.), ninebark
(Physocarpus spp.), and Oregon-grape (Mahonia repens).


SUCCESSIONAL STATUS : 
Facultative Seral Species

Sweetscented bedstraw is shade tolerant.  It is plentiful in both
coniferous and broad-leaved forests and is present in all stages of
succession [10,11,27].  Sweetscented bedstraw frequency and cover values
are greatest at early seral stages, especially following fire [7,12].


SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT : 
Sweetscented bedstraw flowers from May through September [20,33].

Related categories for Species: Galium triflorum | Sweetscented Bedstraw